


Lazy Saturday: Christmas Glow

by gray_autumn_sky



Series: Lazy Saturday [12]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-29
Updated: 2017-12-29
Packaged: 2019-02-23 17:52:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13195425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gray_autumn_sky/pseuds/gray_autumn_sky
Summary: When their plans fall through, Mal tries to cheer up Regina.





	Lazy Saturday: Christmas Glow

Mal peers around the corner, watching as Regina pulls a blanket tighter around herself and shivers.

It’s Christmas Eve and the first Christmas they’ve spent together in what seems like an eternity–and it’s also the first Christmas in fourteen years that Regina won’t be spending it with her son.

The weather forecasts said there’d be light snow, and that had proven to be the the understatement of the century. The snow had started the morning before, falling in big clusters as it created a blanket across the yard. She’d smile and peered up at the white sky–and she’d made a comment about how looked like they were somehow stuck in a snow globe. Regina had laughed and smiled, and she’d made them cups of peppermint tea–and for awhile, they’d sat together by the window and watched the snow come down.

The tree glowed with colorful lights, and it was warm and cozy–and she couldn’t help but enjoy that for the time being, it’d just the two of them, cuddled up with her underneath a heavy knit blanket and watching the snow falling in what felt like such a perfect holiday moment.

But the snow hadn’t stopped.

They watched as the curb disappeared beneath the snowy blanket, and then, in the blink of an eye, the first step of the porch was hidden from sight. It’d been around then that Emma called and said she didn’t think she’d be able to get Henry back to Regina’s. Obviously, Regina understood–and she’d been adamant that Emma shouldn’t even try make it across town with Henry–but that didn’t mean she wasn’t disappointed.

By the time she’d gotten off the phone the porch had disappeared beneath the snow, and still it was coming down–and it wasn’t long after that that the lights started to flicker, and suddenly the snow didn’t see so innocent or idyllic as a cool chill slowly spread through the house.

“I brought you some more tea,” Mal says, rounding the corner into the room. “This’ll keep you warm.”

“Thank you,” Regina says, a soft smile pulling onto her lips. “It’s days like this I’m envious of your dragon blood.”

Mal smiles back and sits down on the chair’s arm. “I admit, it’s nice not to be chilly, but it makes summer miserable.”

She watches as Regina takes a long sip of the tea. “I promise,” she says, looking up over the rim of the mug. “I’ll stop sulking soon. I just need… a little more time.”

“Oh, I don’t mind the sulking,” Mal murmurs. “Though I am lonely, sitting downstairs in the dark.”

“You don’t  _have_ to be alone downstairs in the dark, you know,” Regina tells her in a very practical tone. “You could stay up here with me.”

Mal bites down on her lip. “I could…”

“But you won’t?”

She shrugs. “I’ve just… got a project I’m working on.”

Regina’s brows arch. “A project, hm?” Her eyes narrow as she breathes in the steamy tea. “What project?”

“I want to cheer you up.”

At that, Regina grins. “You don’t have to do that. I’m fine and I’m… overreacting.”

“You miss Henry. You’re not overreacting,” Mal says, squaring her shoulders. “It’s Christmas and you don’t have your son. You have the right to be glum.”

Regina blinks. “Glum?” Mal chuckles softly and nods, offering no explanation for her choice of words. “And it’s not actually Christmas. It’s only Christmas Eve.”

“Which, from the way you two made it seem is equally, if not more, important.”

Regina shrugs. “I’m sure he’s having a good time at Emma’s.”

“And I’m sure he’s missing you.”

Regina’s brow arches. “No, he’s having fun playing with battery-operated games and enjoying the freedom of–”

“He’s missing you,” Mal cuts in, her voice rising over Regina’s. “He may have pizza and no set bedtime, but I saw the way his eyes lit up when he talked about baking cookies with you every year. It might be nice to have a little freedom here and there, but he was looking forward to those cookies.”

A little grin edges onto Regina’s lips. “Well, maybe he does miss the cookies.”

“And you.”

She nods. “And me.”

Mal chews at her lip for a moment, narrowing her eyes and watching as Regina takes long sips of her tea. “Come down stairs,” she says. “I’m not quite ready, but it might be fun to finish up together.”

“Oh, I’m not really in  a–”

“Please?” Mal’s eyes widen and she smiles expectantly, her lashes batting as she leans forward and squeeze Regina’s blanket-covered knee. “You wrapped my present in shiny red paper and it’s taken  _everything_ in me not to rip it apart.” That earns a grin. “Come on, I’ve got the living room all set up and–”

“Set up?”

Mal nods and this time, she reaches for her hand. “I built up the fire and decorated the tree, and–”

Regina’s head tips to the side as she lets her pull her up. “The tree was already decorated.”

“With lights that won’t light up.”

“Well, the electricity is out and–”

Mal’s voice halts and a soft chuckle replaces her words as Regina scrambles up, her eyes widening at the realization that Mal has likely–and most definitely–decorated the tree with candles. She follows behind her, carrying the left-behind mug of tea–and she can’t help but smile as Regina stands at the threshold of the living room, taking it in.

There’s fire crackling by the hearth and a pallet of warm blankets and pillows. Next to it on a little snack tray is a cutting board stacked with tiny slices of cheeses and sausage and rows of crackers, and a crock of mulled wine. The smell of oranges and cloves wafts through the air and all along the mantle and over the tables, candles burning brightly and give the illusion of warmth.

“People have been decorating Christmas trees with candles for centuries, you know,” Mal says easily. “I don’t know what you’re so worried about, and I haven’t even lit them yet.”

“I was worried about you burning down the house,” she says before turning as a grin pulls onto her lips. “Or maybe just the tree.”

Mal fights a grin. “That was one time.”

Regina laughs–and it’s a real, genuine laugh, and the first she’s heard all day.  Her grin brightens and she takes her hand, leading her into the living room and grabbing a thick wooly blanket from the back of an armchair. She drapes it over her shoulders and then slides her around her waist, pulling her in and pressing a kiss to her temple.

“Want to help me finish?”

“Lighting the tree?”

“Yeah,” Mal says with an easy shrug as she reaches for one of the candles.

She can feel Regina watching her as she draws in a breath and concentrates–and then, she feels the warmth in her cheeks as she release her breath and a little flame touched to the candles wick. She watches for a moment as the flame flickers and grows, and she smiles as Regina reaches for one of the candles on the tree.

They spend awhile lighting them–carefully, mostly for Regina’s comfort–and then, they settle on the pallet of blankets.

“Do you remember that one Christmas,” Mal asks, blinking as she pours two mugs of the mulled wine. “It was snowy then, too.”

“You mean the only other one we spent together.”

Mal nods. “The only one I bothered to celebrate until today.”

“Oh…”

“No, no,” Mal cuts in. “I didn’t say that to make you feel bad, and I hate that Henry isn’t here with us.”

Regina smiles gently and nods as she takes the mug of wine. “Yes,” she says slowly as she looks up over the rim wine, breathing in the warmth. “Of course I remember that Christmas.”

“I still can’t believe we got away with it.”

Regina laughs. “Neither can I, but… I think Leopold was glad to be rid of me for awhile and I’m not sure my maid would have ever complained about a couple of days off.”

“No,” she murmurs, “I suppose not.”

“And Leopold would have never wanted Snow to  _catch_ what I supposedly had.”

Mal laughs out. “And your maid was probably all too relieved that Leopold  _so thoughtfully_  arranged for a nursemaid, so she didn’t catch the plague herself.”

“Well I was  _gravely_ ill.”

“Mm, yes,” Mal nods. “I remember–and given what a terrible liar you are–”

“Hey…”

“You played the part well.”

“I really wanted that time with you,” Regina says easily as a soft laugh escapes her. “I’m still shocked that we got away with it, though,” she says as a grin twists onto her lips. “Even if you did nearly burn down the castle.”

“Stone doesn’t burn that way. It would’ve been fine,” Mal says indignantly. “And I do believe  _you_ were the one who tugged at the tree skirt and made it wobble and… ignite.”

Regina’s brow arches and she looks up from over the rim of the mug. “Because of what  _you_ were doing to me.”

“That’s fair,” Mal condeeds. “I always did love making you squirm.”

Regina laughs and nods–and then leans in brushing her lips against hers. “Thank you,” she breathes out. “This was sweet,” she says, pulling back just far enough for their eyes to meet. “And don’t think I don’t realize that this is almost exactly like–”

“I rather like it without those strange gargoyles Leopold had all over the place.”

Regina’s eyes roll. “Those were hideous and he loved them.”

“They were a tad unsettling. They looked like miniature dragons that–”

“Says the dragon.”

A grin edges onto Mal’s lips. “I’d like to think that I’m the adorable sort of dragon–not the creepy sort that you can’t help but feel will steal your soul if you look into its eyes for too long.” She pauses and her brow arches. “You know, speaking of recreating that Christmas…”

“Oh…?”

“I see to remember us wearing quite a bit less clothing.”

Regina laughs out. “And I seem to remember it being a lot warmer.”

“Who says I can’t keep you warm?” Mal asks, her shoulders squaring. “You know, I read recently that body heat–” Regina laughs out and leans back in, kissing her gently. “See,” she murmurs into the kiss as she sets down her mug and pulls Regina’s away from her. “You’re warming up already.”

“Am I?”

“Mmm,” she murmurs as her tongue traces along Regina’s lip. “You are.”

Regina starts to lay back and Mal can’t help but laugh as her eyes shift toward the tree to gauge their distance–and then, the metallic red paper catches her eye. She sits up and Regina whimpers a little, her brow furrowing as she pouts at the loss of contact.

“We should exchange presents,” Mal decides, her eyes wide–and Regina can’t help but laugh as she she pulls herself up. “I can’t wait for you to see what I got you.”

“Oh, I thought… we were…” She sighs. “But I was obviously wrong.”

Mal is already up and at the tree before Regina can actually protest, and carefully, she pulls out a metallic gold bag with green and red shiny tissue paper sticking up from the top. A grin pulls onto Regina’s lips as she gathers a blanket around herself as moves slowly toward the tree–and Mal squirms with anticipation as Regina plucks the tiny box wrapped in shiny red paper from the pile.

“I’ve been thinking about this  _all_ day.”

“I’m sure you have,” Regina muses as she hugs the blanket tighter. “Let’s go back to the fire,” she says, tugging on Mal’s hand–and all the while, Mal’s eyes stay fixed on the red box. “I think you should go–” Her voice halts and she laughs out as Mal’s fingers wiggle with anticipation. “Merry Christmas, Mal,” Regina says, sighing through a laugh as she leans in and presses a kiss to her cheek and drops the shiny red box into her lap.

Mal draws in a breath as her eyes widen and she looks quickly from the box to Regina and then back to the box, and slowly she pulls the paper from it, careful not to tear it. She twists the green ribbon between her fingers and bites down her on her lip as she pulls the top off of the box–and then, she her breath catches in her throat and again, she feels her own eyes widening.

In the box, beneath some soft gold tissue–that she also wants to save–sits a little gold coin on a chain. She blinks and looks momentarily to Regina, watching as her smile broadens. She looks back to the necklace, holding it up in front of her as she examines its every detail–and her breath catches as she notices the crest stamped into the center of the coin, and she recognizes it from her hoard.

She swallows hard as she drops the chain down and focuses on the coin, rubbing her long fingers over the edge, remembering the little room at the back of her castle where she tucked away her favorite treasures.

“I’ve been saving it for… well, since the curse.”

“Why?”

“It reminded me of you,” Regina says simply. “And now, I don’t need a reminder of you because I have you.”

Mal swallows and her heartbeat slows as warm tears well in her eyes–and suddenly, it’s hard to look away from Regina. “Mine’s not as good.”

Regina’s brow arches. “Why don’t you let me be the judge of that?”

Mal nods and hands her the gold bag, momentarily distracted as the light catches it, making it glimmer and shine as Regina lowers it to her lap.

“It’s heavy.”

“It is…”

“A book,” Regina says before it’s out of the bag. “Well, so far you’re off to a good start. I love books.”

“I know,” Mal murmurs. “I remember all those nights you spent reading them instead of doing… other things.” A grin twists onto Regina’s lips. “I loved watching you though, watching you lose yourself in another world and–” She laughs. “And it gave me something else to collect.”

“I remember that, too,” Regina says, pulling the book from the bag. “You had quite the little library.”

Mal shrugs. “I had to lure you into my lair somehow.”

“You didn’t need to lure me,” Regina says, rolling her eyes. “I loved being with you. I loved… everything about being with you.” She blinks down at the book. “I felt so… alive.”

Mal hold her breath, remembering those years and all of their adventures together–and like Regina, she remember how for the first time in what seemed like an eternity, she was alive.

“I can see why you picked this,” Regina muses, rubbing her fingers over the gold edged pages. “Shiny.”

“Open it,” Mal urges. “You’ll see why I–”

She stops as Regina opens to the first page, and then looks up to Mal. “Where did you–”

“The pawn shop,” Mal finishes. “I was browsing and, there it was… sitting all alone on a shelf.” She grins. “And yes, the gold pages caught my eye, but that’s not why I bought it for you.”

“I remember this place,” Regina breathes out as she looks to a water color field. Mal nods, remembering laying with her on her back amid a sea of orange poppies, trading lazy kisses and the warm sun bathed them. “And…” She blinks as she turns to the next page.

“Scenery from the Old World,” Mal explains, reaching out and folding the book closed, pointing to the title. “We visited so many of those places.”

“Yeah,” Regina murmurs, turning the page to a still lake that shimmers in the moonlight–and Mal can see that she remembers that one too, remembering how they’d floated on their backs, letting the water soothe them as crickets frogs chirped from the banks. Regina smiles and again turns the page, and Mal slides closer and cuddles into her side, resting her head atop hers as the warmth of their memories flood them as they flip through the pages.


End file.
